Happy Autumnal Equinox...

This day would normally find me doing seasonal celebrations - changing out the summer linens for the fall/winter ones; participating in one of many gatherings and parties to celebrate the change of seasons; taking a first-day-of-fall hike...  Not this year. This year I am on day 3 of fevers that won't break and going on 48 hours of laying on bed to sofa to bed back to sofa and occasionally, the cool tile floor. This equinox brought me the flu. I don't get sick. Rarely. Maybe a minor head cold once every few years ... but the flu? They usually pass me by or I'll feel a 'tinge' of it for maybe a day. This one doesn't want to let me go. What's with that??

Things that aren't cool about being bed-ridden ill:

  • You can't go out to play.
  • The weekend to-do list doesn't get even touched.
  • Sub plans are a bear to put together and you never know who's gonna show up. 
  • Nothing tastes good.
  • The 4-legged family members try to comfort you - at the peak of your fever - by wanting to lay on top of you - all 4 of them.
  • You miss the Saturday farmers' market.
  • You miss all the social offers for the weekend.
  • You simply feel like crud.
Things that are sorta cool about being bed-ridden ill:
  • You get to watch your favorite flicks all day - and it doesn't matter if you fall asleep in the middle of them because you've already seen them dozens of times.
  • Lipton's Cup of Soup (because you're too tired and too sick to make homemade...)
  • Applesauce
  • Extra sleep is an expected necessity rather than feeling like stealing time.
  • Listening to books on tape (because reading hurts your feverish eyes).
  • Not minding you didn't get your first-day-of-fall hike in because it was overcast and muggy and too hot unless you went out between 6/7 and 10/11am - which you couldn't do anyway.
  • A cold washcloth on the forehead.
  • Iced green tea with honey and mint.
  • Getting to play with Light Room 4.
  • Sorting through thousands of photos to re-catalog.
  • Things slow down.
  • More sleep.
And so, this post's photo is from one of those purging and sorting sessions - between high and low fever spells. I love this one. My son was totally jazzed about seeing this mural by Shepard Fairey, founder of the OBEY company. This one is by the Navy Pier and, I believe, unveiled just a few months before we arrived in November of 2011. We made 2 passes by it to try to get a quick photo. No luck in the dim light from a moving car. So, after many twists and turns under and over passes and many one-way streets in downtown Chicago to find someplace to park, we trudged over more street intersections to get an up close look. 

It was worth it.



   

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